Wheelchair tray attachment



June 2, 1970 H. N. BOLLINGER 3,515,

WHEELCHAI R TRAY ATTACHMENT Filed Oct. 9, 1968 26 l6 W 23 if j un -1m fi20b LL? Is 20 VI'II'IIIIII" I 5 I INVENTOR. HOWARD N. BOLLINGER UnitedStates Patent 3,515,429 WHEELCHAIR TRAY ATTACHMENT Howard N. Bollinger,Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to American Hospital Supply Corporation,Evanston,

Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Oct. 9, 1968, Ser. No. 766,165

Int. Cl. A47b 39/00 U.S. Cl. 297-153 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A trayattachment for invalid chairs. The tray may be easily and quicklyattached to and detached from any of a wide variety of conventionalinvalid chairs or wheelchairs despite dimensional and configurationaldifferences in such chairs.

BACKGROUND While tray attachments for invalid chairs have been known inthe past, such trays have been suitable for use only with specificchairs or brands of chairs and have not been mountable on other chairsof the same manufacturer or of different manufacturers. Furthermore,conventional trays have often been difficult to attach and detach,especially for an occupant of a chair, and generally have not beenadjustable to suit the requirements or preferences of differentoccupants.

SUMMARY Unlike prior tray attachments, the tray of the present inventionis equipped with flexible straps which may be easily wrapped about thetrays rearwardly-projecting arm extensions and about the armrests of aconventional wheeled invalid chair to secure the tray in place. Eachstrap is provided along opposite end surfaces with an adhering productmarketed commercially under the trademark Velcro, such product beingfully disclosed in Pat. No. 3,009,235, issued Nov. 21, 1961, and Pat.No. 2,717,437, issued Sept. 13, 1955. While substantial forces may beexerted on such straps, as where a number of relatively heavy articlesare placed upon the portion of the tray in front of the chairs armrests,the tendency of the tray to pivot downwardly and forwardly about theends of the armrests is firmly resisted by the straps which, because oftheir orientation and the relationship between the tray and armrests,are subjected primarily to shearing forces which the Velcro connectionseasily withstand. Nevertheless, when detachment of the tray is desired,an occupant of the chair, or some attendant, may readily peel apart theVelcro connections of the straps to release the tray from the chairsarmrests.

While the armrests of different makes and models of wheelchairs differdimensionally, the attachment straps are proportioned to extend aboutvirtually any of such armrests so that, for practical purposes, thestructure of the present invention constitutes a universal trayattachment for wheelchairs. Furthermore, on any given wheelchair, thetray may be mounted in any of a variety of positionsthat is, in any of arange of selected distances from the back rest of the chair-to meet theneeds and preferences of the occupant.

DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a trayattachment of the present invention mounted upon a. wheelchair;

FIG. 2 is a further perspective view illustrating in greater detail theattachment means for the tray;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

5 Claims 3,515,429 Patented June 2, 1970 ice DESCRIPTION Referring tothe drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates a wheelchair havingwheels 11, an upstanding back rest 12, a seat 13', and generallyhorizontal armrests 14. The armrests may be padded or unpadded and, inthe illustration given, consist of a pair of spaced parallel memberssecured to the horizontal tubular frame portions 15 of the chair. It isto be understood, however, that the horizontal tubular members 15 maythemselves constitute the armrests in less elaborate versions of thechair. Since the chair as shown is generally conventional in therespects noted above, further description of such components is believedunnecessary herein.

Upon the armrests is mounted a horizontal tray 16 which has a main panelportion 16a and a pair of spaced parallel rearwardly-extending armextensions 16b. The rearwardly-projecting arm extensions are separatedby an arcuate recess 17. As shown in the drawings, the arm extensionsoverlie the armrests of the wheelchair with the main panel portion ofthe tray projecting forwardly well beyond the front upper edges 18 ofthose armrests.

The tray has flat top and bottom surfaces and may be formed from anyrigid and durable material. In the illustration given, the front andside edges of the main panel portion are covered by a protective strip19 which may extend slightly above the top surface of the tray to assistin retaining articles placed upon the tray surface.

The rear ends of the trays arm extensions 16b terminate along atransverse line which is normally spaced in front of back rest 12.Connecting means in the form of connecting straps 20 detachably securethe arm extensions to the wheelchairs armrests at points spaced wellbehind the leading edges 18 of those armrests. Each strap 20 is formedof highly flexible and generally non-stretchable material and extends ina transverse direction completely about an armrest 14 and the armextension 16b of the tray disposed directly above that armrest.Referring to FIG. 3, it will be observed that each strap has a first endportion 20a which is permanently secured by screws 21 or by any othersuitable means to the top surface of the trays arm extension 16b, anintermediate portion 20b extending downwardly and then upwardly aboutarmrest 14 and the supporting frame member 15 therefor, and a second orfree end portion 20c which overlies the first end portion 201:. Velcrostrips 22 and 23 are permanently bonded or otherwise secured to theopposing surfaces of end portions 20a and 200 for releasably anchoringthe free end portion 200 in place upon portion 20a. Specifically, one ofthe end portions, such as free end portion 20c, is provided with aVelcro strip having a multiplicity of outwardly projecting plastic hooks24, while the opposite end portion, such as end portion 20a, is providedwith a Velcro strip having a pile composed of a multiplicity ofoutwardly projecting plastic loops 25. The hooks and loops of the Velcrostrips are disposed to engage and interlock to resist shearing of theoverlapping portions of each strap. However, the hooks are flexible andmay be pulled out of engagement with the loops of the pile when the freeend portion 200 of the strap is peeled away from the permanently mountedend portion 20a. Since the structure of the Velcro product is believedwell known, and is fully disclosed in the aforementioned patents,further discussion is believed unnecessary herein.

When the tray attachment is mounted as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mainpanel portion 16a projects well in front of the front edges 18 of thearmrests. Downward force in the direction of arrow 26 (FIG. 4), as wouldoccur when objects are placed upon the main portions of the tray, tendsto raise the free ends of the arm extensions 16!; to cause the tray topivot forwardly about the front edges 118 of the armrests. However, theattachment straps 20 encircle the arm extensions and armrests adjacentthe rear ends of those arm extensions and at points spaced well behindthe leading edges 18 of the armrests. The tensioning force applied tothe attachment straps tends to shear the free end portions 20a and 20cof the straps apart; however, the interlocking hooks and loops of suchend portions are easily capable of withstanding the shearing forcescreated by a loading of the tray with the result that the tray 'willremain securely in position upon the armrests of a wheelchair until suchtime as the occupant or attendant intentionally releases the attachmentstraps.

Since the end portions of the straps are of substantial length with asubstantial area of overlap even when the tray is mounted upon thewheelchair having relatively large or thick armrests, it is believedapparent that the tray attachment may be easily mounted upon virtuallyany wheelchair equipped with the usual horizontal armrests. The trayattachment may therefore be considered as a universal attachmentsuitable for mounting upon all, or substantially all, conventionalwheelchairs. Furthermore, in mounting the tray attachment upon any givenwheelchair the extent of overlap between the arm extensions 16b and thearmrests 14 may be varied to suit the comfort and convenience of thepatient.

While in the foregoing I have disclosed on embodiment of the inventionin considerable detail for purposes of illustration, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that many of these details may bevaried without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a invalid chair having a pair of generallyhorizontal armrests, a generally horizontal tray having a main panelportion disposed in front of said armrests and a pair of spaced parallelrearwardly-projecting arm extensions overlying said armrests, andattachment means extending transversely about each arm extension and thearmrests therebelow and spaced a substantial distance behind the frontend of each armrest for detachably securing the tray in place, each ofsaid attachment means comprising a flexible and generallynon-stretchable strap having a first end portion fixed to a top surfaceof one of said arm extensions, an intermediate portion beneath thearmrest adjacent said one of said arm extensions, and a second endportion overlying said first end portion, said first and second endportions having one of their overlapping surfaces provided with amultiplicity of outwardly-projecting plastic hooks and the other of saidsurfaces provided with a pile composed of a multiplicity ofoutwardly-projecting plastic loops, the hooks being disposed to engageand interlock with the loops of said pile to resist shearing of theoverlapping end portions of each strap, said hooks being flexible todisengage themselves from the loops of said pile when said second endportion is peeled away from said first end portion.

2. In combination with an invalid chair having a pair of generallyhorizontal armrests, a generally horizontal tray detachably mounted uponsaid arm-rests, said tray having a main panel portion disposed in frontof said arm rests and a pair of spaced parallel rearwardly-projectingarm extensions overlying said armrests, and attachment means extendingtransversely about each arm extension and the armrests therebelow andspaced a substantial distance behind the front end of each armrest fordetachably securing the tray in place, each of said attachment meanscomprising a flexible and generally non-stretchable strap having a firstend portion fixed to one of said arm extensions adjacent the rear end ofsaid one extension, an intermediate portion beneath the armrestunderlying said one extension, and a second end portion overlying saidfirst end portion, said first and second end portions having one oftheir overlapping surfaces provided with a multiplicity ofoutwardly-projecting plastic hooks and the other of said surfacesprovided with a pile composed of a multiplicity of outwardly-projectingplastic loops, the hooks being disposed to engage and interlock with theloops of said pile to resist shearing of the overlapping end portions ofeach strap said hooks being flexible to disengage themselves from theloops of said pile when said second end portion is peeled away from saidfirst end portion.

3; A tray attachment for invalid chairs comprising a generallyhorizontal tray adapted to be detachably mounted upon the armrests of aconventional invalid chair, said tray having a main panel portionadapted to be disposed in front of the armrests of an invalid chair anda pair of spaced parallel rearwardly-projecting arm extensions adaptedto overlie said armrests, and attachment means for securing the free endportions of said arm extensions to the armrests of a chair, saidattachment means comprising a pair of flexible and generallynon-stretchable straps each having a first end portion fixed to a topsurface of one of said arm extensions adjacent the free end thereof, anintermediate portion adapted to extend downwardly about a chair armrest,and a second end portion adapted to overlie said first end portion forattachment thereto, said first and second end portions having one oftheir overlapping surfaces provided with a multiplicity ofoutwardly-projectin g plastic hooks and the other of said surfacesprovided with a pile composed of a multiplicity of outwardly-projectingplastic loops, the hooks being disposed to engage and interlock with theloops of said pile to resist shearing of the overlapping end portions ofeach strap when the tray is mounted upon a chair with each strapextending transversely about an armrest "and an arm extension disposedthereabove, said hooks being flexible to disengage themselves from theloops of said pile when said second end portion is peeledaway from saidfirst end portion.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which said first and second end portionsof each strap overlap above each of said arm extensions. 7

5. A tray attachment for invalid chairs comprising a generallyhorizontal tray adapted to be detachably mounted upon the armrest of aconventional invalid chair, said tray having a main panel portionadaptedto be disposed in front of the armrests of an invalid chair and apair of spaced parallel rearwardly-projecting arm extensions adapted tooverlie said armrests, and attachment means for securing the free endportions of said arm extensions to the armrests of a chair, saidattachment means comprising a pair of flexible and generallynon-stretchable straps each having a first end portion fixed to one ofsaid arm extensions adjacent the free end thereof, an intermedlateportion adapted to extend downwardly about a chair armrest, and a secondend portion adapted to overlie the top surface of said one of said armextensions, means secured to the top surface of said one of said armextensions directly beneath said second end portion, said last-mentionedmeans and said second end portion having opposing surfaces engaging eachother, one of said opposing surfaces being provided with a multiplicityof outwardlyprojecting plastic hooks and the other of said opposingsurfaces being provided with a pile composed of a multiplicity ofoutwardly-projecting plastic loops, the hooks being disposed to engageand interlock with the loops of said pile to resist shearing apart ofsaid opposing surfaces when said tray is mounted upon a chair with eachstrap extending transversely about an armrest and an arm extensiondisposed thereabove, said hooks being flexible to disengage themselvesfrom the loops of said pile when said second end portion is peeled awayfrom said lastmentioned means.

(References on following page) 6 References Cited 3,279,008 10/1966Wallach 24-204 3,307,872 3/1967 Murcott 297- 3s5 UNITED STATES PATENTS3,352,602 11/1967 Svendsen 297-453 x 2,420,673 5/1967 Monrad 108-43 X3,383,738 5/1968 Fox et a1. 297 24s x 2,994,557 8/1961 King 297-153 X3,220,767 11/ 1965 Hendrickson 297-219 5 JAMES T. MCCALL, PrimaryExaminer

